Can you re-steep green tea? Absolutely! It is essential to use high-quality whole-leaf tea to fully appreciate the multiple infusions. Classic Asian varieties, like white tea, green tea, and oolong, are particularly well-suited for multiple infusions, revealing a truly artistic dimension of tea brewing. But how many times can you use the same leaves? From Western to traditional Asian methods, let's explore your options for multiple infusions.
Western vs. Asian Methods of Tea Brewing
In Western households, it is common to place tea in a strainer and brew it in a large teapot, typically holding about a litre. Especially with tea bags, we usually discard them after one use. However, high-quality loose leaf tea deserves to be re-steeped multiple times. Fine whole-leaf green tea can generally be infused 2 to 3 times. In China, the birthplace of tea, it is prepared quite differently. The Gong Fu Cha method involves using larger amounts of tea leaves in smaller pots, often only holding 200ml, and infusing them repeatedly with shorter steeping times. This is tea brewing taken to a whole new level, and there's much to learn from Asian tea preparation techniques!
Exploring the Chinese Gong Fu Cha Method
The Gong Fu Cha method is a traditional Chinese tea preparation, particularly suited for fine Chinese green teas or oolong. This method uses larger amounts of tea brewed in a Yixing teapot or a gaiwan. The tea is then poured into a second serving vessel, known as a Fairness Cup, to ensure each cup has the same flavour. This method allows for multiple infusions, with shorter steeping times and more tea leaves used. The second infusion is often slightly longer to allow the leaves to fully release their aromas into the water. The higher the quality of the tea, the more infusions are possible, offering a chance to discover every nuance of the tea's flavour.
Japanese Green Tea Preparation
Similarly, in Japan, where green tea such as the popular Sencha is prepared in a Kyusu, it's common to brew a lot of tea with relatively little water. After about a minute, your first infusion is usually ready, offering a complex and intense flavour experience thanks to the high quality of Japanese green teas, which have very fine leaves that quickly release their aromas into the water. It's recommended to have a shorter second infusion to avoid bitterness, and thereafter, your individual taste should guide how many more infusions you enjoy.
Factors Influencing Green Tea Re-Steeping
The number of possible infusions varies according to the quality of the green tea. Higher-quality whole-leaf teas allow for more infusions, whereas crushed tea leaves, often found in ordinary supermarket tea bags, are usually sufficient for just one infusion. Whole tea leaves are the right choice here as they offer a variety of flavours that literally unfold with multiple infusions.
Practical Tips for the Perfect Brew
- For the best results, green teas should be steeped for about one minute on the first infusion, as they quickly release their aromas.
- Note that with Japanese teas, the second infusion should be shorter to avoid bitterness. Rolled teas like Gunpowder green tea need more time to fully unfold, while teas with open leaves can steep more quickly.
- Between infusions, you can leave the leaves in the sieve or directly in the teapot if brewed the Asian way. However, be sure to use the tea leaves on the same day, preferably within a few hours, as they become a perfect environment for mould once they stay damp for too long.
- How often you can re-steep green tea also depends on your personal taste. Observe how the flavour changes with each infusion, and feel free to experiment with tea amounts and steeping times until the flavour fades.
- The myth of discarding the first infusion stems from earlier times when hygiene played a greater role. Today, this is no longer necessary. Only within the Chinese tea ceremony is the first infusion still discarded as a ritual wash and purely used to warm the pot.
